Bobcats claw Denver by 7; Clippers sail

Tuesday

Mar 11, 2014 at 11:18 AM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Al Jefferson scored 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to help the Charlotte Bobcats take a 105-98 win over the Denver Nuggets. Kemba Walker added 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Gary Neal finished with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting for the Bobcats, winners in three of their last four games. Ty Lawson poured in 24 points and dished out six assists and Aaron Brooks finished with 16 points off the bench for the Nuggets, losers in eight of their last 10.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Al Jefferson scored 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to help the Charlotte Bobcats take a 105-98 win over the Denver Nuggets. Kemba Walker added 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Gary Neal finished with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting for the Bobcats, winners in three of their last four games. Ty Lawson poured in 24 points and dished out six assists and Aaron Brooks finished with 16 points off the bench for the Nuggets, losers in eight of their last 10.

LA Clippers 112, Phoenix 105

LOS ANGELES — Blake Griffin poured in 37 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 112-105 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday. Chris Paul had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists, while DeAndre Jordan scored eight points and ripped 17 rebounds for the Clippers. Darren Collison contributed 20 points in the win, Los Angeles’s eighth straight victory. Goran Dragic paced Phoenix with 23 points, while P.J. Tucker registered 14 points with 10 rebounds before being ejected midway through the fourth after getting into an altercation with Griffin. The Suns have lost two straight and fell to ninth place in the Western Conference playoff race behind idle Memphis.

Atlanta 112, Utah 110

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Kyle Korver had 26 points and the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Utah Jazz, 112-110, on Monday night. Korver was 8-of-12 from the field and made all four of his 3-point tries, while Paul Millsap added 23 points and eight rebounds for the Hawks, who snapped their six-game losing streak. Trey Burke netted 23 points and Marvin Williams supplied 18 points and six rebounds for Utah, which has dropped six of its last seven tilts.

Brooklyn 101, Toronto 97

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Deron Williams and Shaun Livingston netted 18 points apiece and the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors, 101-97, on Monday night. Paul Pierce tallied 15 points and four steals, while Joe Johnson added 14 points for the Nets, who have won six of their last seven games. Kyle Lowry had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Amir Johnson poured in 16 points for Toronto, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. After Andray Blatche’s turnaround hook shot tied the game at 94-94, Pierce gave the Nets the lead on their next trip down the floor when he nailed a 3-pointer.

Miami 99, Washington 90

MIAMI, Fla. — Dwyane Wade donated 22 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as the Miami Heat ended their three-game slide and clinched a playoff berth with a 99-90 win over the Washington Wizards at AmericanAirlines Arena. LeBron James supplied 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, while Chris Bosh added 22 points and seven boards for the Heat, who haven’t lost four in a row since a five-game drought from Feb. 27- March 8, 2011. Miami now trails the idle Indiana Pacers by just one game for the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Bradley Beal paced Washington with 18 points, Martell Webster scored 17 and Marcin Gortat tallied 14 points and 18 boards for the Wizards, who had won eight of their last nine games coming into the tilt.

New York 123, Philadelphia 110

NEW YORK — Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 28 points off the bench to lead the New York Knicks to a 123-110 win over the slumping Philadelphia 76ers. Amar’e Stoudemire deposited 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting, while J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony each scored 22 points in the win, with Anthony adding nine boards in New York’s fourth straight win. There was a bright spot for the Sixers in the loss, though, as Michael Carter Williams became the first rookie in franchise history to record two triple- doubles in a season after amassing 23 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the loss, Philadelphia’s 17th consecutive defeat. Tony Wroten also scored 23 points in the setback, while Thaddeus Young and James Anderson netted 18 and 17 points, respectively. The Sixers are in the midst of their longest losing streak since losing 20 straight in 1972-73.

Milwaukee 105, Orlando 98

MILWAUKEE — Brandon Knight scored 24 points and handed out six assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 105-98 win over the Orlando Magic. Khris Middleton had 21 points and seven assists, Ersan Ilyasova scored 16 points and pulled down 11 boards and Ramon Sessions scored 16 points with eight assists for the Bucks, who snapped a three-game slide. Maurice Harkless led seven Orlando scorers in double figures with 14 points and Nikola Vucevic posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Jameer Nelson chipped in with 13 points and seven assists and Arron Afflalo and Victor Oladipo finished with 12 points apiece for the Magic, losers in three straight and four of their last five.

Rockets to visit Thunder

The Houston Rockets are a different team since the last time they faced the Oklahoma City Thunder and look to exact revenge when the two Western powers engage in battle Tuesday night.

The Rockets have lost the first two encounters with the Thunder by double digits and are 4-10 in the last 14 games in this series. They have also lost six of seven trips to Chesapeake Energy Arena.

But Houston’s fortunes have turned lately with five straight wins and 15 in the last 17 tries. The Rockets are an NBA-best 23-6 since Jan. 1 and have not lost a game in 2014 when scoring 100 or more points.

Houston has hit the century mark in every game during its winning streak and is third in the NBA with 106.6 ppg. The Rockets have knocked off the likes of NBA powers Miami, Indiana and Portland in the last five games and needed overtime to defeat the Trail Blazers 118-113 on Sunday.

James Harden, the Western Conference Player of the Week, scored 20 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and is averaging 29.8 points in his last 11 games. He is fifth in the league with 24.9 ppg and buried a big 3-pointer to make it 106-106 late in regulation.

Jeremy Lin netted 26 points off the bench, Dwight Howard had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Chandler Parsons chipped in 16 points for the Rockets, who scored 32 points off 21 turnovers and erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Houston scored 12 of the 19 points in the extra stanza for its eighth straight win at home.

"When you win games like this, it gives you the feeling that if you keep grinding and keep fighting, you can make things happen," said Rockets coach Kevin McHale. "It gives you a confidence and an ability to stick to what you do and play hard."

McHale’s team will start a rough three-game road trip Tuesday against Oklahoma City, Chicago and Miami, and is third in the Western Conference, just 2 1/2 games off the top spot.

Oklahoma City has struggled lately with two straight losses and five over the last eight games. It suffered an embarrassing 114-110 loss to the lowly Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday and a late-game rally fell short.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with a triple-double of 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals. Serge Ibaka had 21 points and 15 boards for OKC, which squandered an 18-point lead in the first half and later trailed by that many after a 23-2 run by L.A.

"We have to do a better job of executing on the defensive end of the floor," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. "We had trouble staying in front of the basketball tonight. It’s something that we have to continue to work on and build going forward."

Durant, the NBA’s leading scorer with 31.7 ppg, has three triple-doubles on the season and six in his career. He has scored 25 or more points in the last 28 games, a streak that is one game shy of his 29-game run in 2009-10. He is averaging 35.0 ppg in that stretch.

The Thunder have scored 100 or more points in the last seven games and are fifth in the NBA with 105.7 ppg. They will try to improve their 26-6 home record and have won three in a row as the host.

Oklahoma City will play its next three games at home versus Houston, the Lakers and Dallas, and sits a half-game behind San Antonio for the Western Conference lead.